Green Investment – How is the Asian Development Bank (ADB) tackling the climate challenge?
We spoke to Martin Lemoine, Agribusiness Investment Unit Head at ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, our Strategic Partner for the APAC Agri-Food Innovation Summit.
“Agriculture is at the centre of the global climate crisis. It is simultaneously the most affected sector and itself a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. As such, agribusiness plays a critical role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation.
According to the Food and Land Use Coalition, $350 billion in annual investments are required to transform agriculture to be greener and more resilient.
ADB is committed to being the leader in climate finance in the region. Already a major fund provider to the renewable energy sector, ADB will scale up its investments in climate adaptation to $9 billion over 2019–2024, a large portion of this for resilient agriculture. ADB is fully aligning its operations with the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2025, and by 2030, at least 75% of ADB’s operations will directly contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation.
So far, a third of ADB’s private sector agribusiness investments have incorporated climate features. Climate mitigation projects have included methane capture for livestock and energy efficiency in food distribution. Climate adaptation projects include controlled-environment agriculture, drip irrigation, and training in climate-smart agriculture practices for over 150,000 smallholder farmers.
We are always exploring new and exciting areas and projects.
Read more at https://agrifoodinnovation.com/adb-green-investment/